FARMINGTON HILLS—Officials at the information services provider Gale announced the release of the second installment of its Political Extremism and Radicalism series. Political Extremism and Radicalism: Far-Right Groups in America examines the history of radical right movements in the United States from the 1850s through the 2010s.
Available on the Gale Primary Sources platform, this rare, never-before-digitized collection expands upon the first installment, with a particular focus on white supremacist and nationalist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nations. Now scholars and researchers can analyze the rhetoric, ideology and evolution of fringe, right-wing groups to better understand their impact on today’s mainstream politics as well as broader society. (Read Gale’s blog about this new archive.)
“We created Far-Right Groups in America in response to the growing number of research centers, university departments and undergraduate courses dedicated to the academic study of far-right and extremist political research,” said Seth Cayley, vice president of Gale Primary Sources. “It’s a must-have teaching and learning tool for understanding how the resurgence of right-wing populism and the movement of far-right thinking into the mainstream has been able to develop over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries.”
Far-Right Groups in America covers topics such as fascism, racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, nationalism, Christian Identity, political misinformation and conspiracy theories. The archive includes essential publications and ephemera that explore the nature of right-wing politics in the U.S., including material that both supports and criticizes the radical right. It examines the varying manifestations of far-right ideologies, looking at their emergence, growth, structure and development, as well as the identities of individual groups, making it an ideal resource for undergraduate teaching.
Far-Right Groups in America brings together five collections from renowned libraries and institutions that include:
- University of California, Santa Barbara—Christian Identity and Far-Right Wing Politics: this collection consists of periodicals, pamphlets, programs and other printed ephemera regarding American Christian conservative groups’ philosophies, as well as far-right wing politics and election propaganda. It includes both ephemera and periodicals through which researchers can explore the intersection of Christian conservatism and the far right.
- University of Iowa—Social Documents Collection: contains a large accumulation of materials published by conservative organizations; groups generally considered to be to the right on the political spectrum. Far-right Groups in America includes a number of pamphlets, publications, leaflets, correspondence and ephemera focusing specifically on material related to far-right groups that have been selected from the wider Social Documents Collection. Materials concern a range of right-wing and far-right thinking from Second Amendment gun rights and tax protest to anti-communist, racist, anti-Semitic, Neo-Confederate thinking and much more.
- University of California, Davis—Walter Goldwater Radical Pamphlet Collection: was established in 1966 with a collection of pamphlets purchased from Walter Goldwater, a book dealer who specialized in radical politics, and who was also one of the first book dealers to specialize in African American Studies. Through the material in this collection researchers can explore the role that the far-right plays in the U.S., with titles authored by both those in support of and criticizing far-right viewpoints, and which cover topics such as the Ku Klux Klan, communism, politics, racism and fascism.
- Idaho State University—James Aho Collection: comprised of a variety of materials documenting right-wing extremism in Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. Materials consist of printed matter, recordings, and ephemera with the bulk of the collection consisting of newsletters from various churches and organizations promoting their beliefs. Of particular interest is the collection of recorded sermons and interviews (hosted as audio files and transcripts) that provide an interesting window into the viewpoints and inner workings of far-right groups such as Aryan Nations.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Files: files on Joseph McCarthy, Charles Lindbergh, Ezra Pound and the Posse Comitatus document the FBI’s surveillance of influential right-wing thinkers and one extremist hate group. These fascinating materials will appeal to anyone interested in 20th century American social history as well as far-right extremism in America.
Gale showcased the new archive at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Virtual Conference this week.